November 17th Recap

On Monday we presented our plays to the class as well as helping to act out each others plays. I really  enjoyed watching my classmates plays because it showed their creativity and views on the research paper they wrote. I also thought it was really interesting how some people were able to turn the topic of their research paper into a dramatic and suspenseful play. I had fun turning my topic of composting into a a murder story, which was hard to create.

Paper Snowflakes

This past weekend my friends and I spent hours cutting out paper snowflakes to decorate our rooms for the season. We began cutting into the folded paper and quickly realized this craft we learned in elementary school was not very easy. After looking up several tutorials on youtube, we started cranking out numerous paper snowflakes. From giant snowflakes, to medium sized, and the itty bitty ones, we strung them with string and hung the cheery snowflakes along the walls of our room. My roommate and I also covered our door with various snowflakes.

Thanksgiving

I am very eager for Thanksgiving break to see my family. I'm mostly excited for the grand home cooked meal. Every year I pile my plate high with mashed potatoes and then create a pool in the middle for the turkey, stuffing, green beans, and gravy. Then, I mix it all together and shovel the delicious food into my mouth. But, the best part of the entire meal are the crescent rolls that I smother in honey. After, come the goodies of deserts like traditional pumpkin pie. I enjoy making themed deserts related to the certain holiday. This year, I hope to make some sort of turkey shaped cookies. Holidays are my favorite times of the year because they are an excuse to hang with family and eat lots of yummy foods.

Monday Recap

On Monday in class we read through three interesting plays. My favorite play of the three was Lobster Boy by Dan Dietz. The speaker of Lobster Boy was revealed in the end to be the older brother and it left me shocked by the full circle done. The play started out as a heartfelt story of an older brother caring for his younger brother and then slowly progressed to a horrifying homicide that seemed to be accidental. l was impacted by this play the most because it pulled at my emotions and caused me to feel empathy for the characters. I want to portray this feeling in my play about composting by making the reader feel the importance of composting.

Shakespeare's Cymbeline

The show Cymbeline is about the king Cymbeline's children. His only daughter, Imogen, is supposed to marry the widowed queen's son, but she marries a lesser man named Posthumous instead. As a result of this, Posthumous is banished. Cymbeline also has 2 sons, that were stolen when they were babies and were raised by an old soldier in the mountain. In the end, Imogen and Posthumous are accepted as a couple under the king and the sons are told that they are royalty and the king's sons.
My favorite part of the show was when the queen's son and king's oldest song fought and the queen's son was decapitated.

Monday Recap

On Monday we learned about bad arguments and despite how stupid the bad arguments sounded, they are very common. Learning about them made me re-evaluate my arguments and how I hold a claim in a conversation. These examples helped me to identify what kind of argument I used in my five essays.

Burgers

Sunday evening my dad took my roommate, Olivia and I out to dinner. We drove around downtown Kalamazoo looking for a good restaurant. We passed a smoke house brewery over on West Nedge that looked pretty good, so we decided to feast there. Turns out, we struck gold because this burger joint was amazing. Olivia and I both ordered the best thing on the menu; a burger topped with smoked pulled pork, bacon, BBQ sauce, lettuce, and unions and served with delicious sea salt fries. This burger was probably the best decision of my life. My mouth is watering just typing this! I would strongly suggest going there and ordering nothing but this burger, but sadly, I don't remember the name of the restaurant.

Monday Oct 13th Recap

On monday in class I was given a classmates movie analysis paper about Monster's University. Before reading the essay I wrote a paragraph regarding the theme of the movie that I perceived it to be. To me, the message is about being loyal and honest to a friend in order to maintain that relationship. Then I read my classmates essay and thought the theme is about success and hard work is key yo achieve one's goals. I thought it was interesting that we could understand two different messages front he same movie and even some of the same themes. I also completely agreed with their  view on the theme, but I wouldn't have thought of the success theme unless I read read their essay.

The Walking Dead

Sunday October 12th was the season 5 premier of The Walking Dead, which was also the very same day that Western's cable just happened to malfunction. All day I watched the episodes leading up to season 5, as well as the sneak peek previews of the new episodes. Unfortunately, the cable would go in and out, cutting away from my favorite show numerous times. Finally the season finale of season 4 ended and my friends and I began counting down until the new episode began. The clock shown 9 o'clock when season 5's theme song began to play. Suddenly, the cable cut out, and I screamed. No! I can't miss the first episode of the new season! Stupid Western. I quickly searched for the first episode of season 5 on youtube and found the first 4 minutes. 6 minutes later the cable cut back in. I jumped for joy, and the cable never went out again.

Tea

Tea is my favorite drink, something I will choose over water or pop any day. I have probably 12 different types of loose tea leave mixtures in my dorm room and several other kinds of tea bags. My favorite thing about tea is that it comes in so many contrasting flavors and types. From green tea to black, herbal, white, spiced, and so on, nothing is alike. And those are only a few of the popular ones. My personal favorite is herbal tea because it has a fruity sensation that I can't get enough of. Lately, I've been experimenting with white tea, which is from the buds of a flower grown primarily in China. I also enjoy creating my own sun tea using cloves, lemon slices, cinnamon, and other spices. Further more, tea has many benefits compared to other drinks such as coffee. Teas are caffeinated, provide antioxidants, are very hydrating, and countless other well-being advantages. All in all, drink more tea, brewed by yourself!

October 1st Course Recap

On Wednesday we finished discussing the themes of a couple songs we listened to. One song in particular we spoke about was Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke. The pop song portrays a positive message of wild girls and love. I perceived the song in a negative way as it itemized women and seemed to be about lust. Due to my perception of Blurred Lines I do not care for it, even though it has a catchy tune and a very up beat pulse. It has also caused much controversy because the song can be be taken positively or negatively.

Applied Voice

Asa Music Therapy major my main instrument is voice and therefor have to take applied voice lessons. In this, I am given 4 or 5 songs to learn over the course of one semester. At the end of the semester I have to perform my prepared songs for a jury and am then given a grade. The songs I'm studying are Se tu m'ami, L'ho perduta, The Crucifixion, and I attempt from love's sickness. My favorite one of the 4 is The Crucifixion because it is atonal and gives me the freedom to express the song as I feel appropriate.

Monday Recap

On Monday in class we watched the horror movie Carrie from the 70's. I am not a fan of scary or horror movies, but I actually enjoyed it. The movie had many different themes regarding sexuality, religion, and victims. The beginning of the movie Carrie was seen as a victim to the bullies at her school and her mother who over controlled her for the first 16 years of her life. As the movie continued, Carrie was portrayed more as the villain because she had the power of telekinesis, which she used to control her mother, and later on kill her classmates and mother. I, though, never saw Carrie as a villain because her classmate Chris was eager to seek revenge upon her. Carrie always seemed to be very vulnerable like a victim. I perceived the victim as the telekinesis power within her that could move and break things, and kill people. Over all I liked the movie, but it was very strange.

Guitars

I started teaching myself guitar two years ago. My first guitar was really cheap, $70, and an unknown brand. While it sounded like crap and was very difficult to play, that guitar was beautiful. Black painted wood, sleek, gold accents on the fret board, and his name was Reggie. I loved him dearly until a friend lender me his acoustic electric Ovation. After picking up that Ovation I never wanted to pick Reggie back up.
A year later, after lots of practice and saving of money, I sold Reggie and found a used Ovation off of Craigslist. The new used guitar I bought is an acoustic electric Ovation with black painted wood and quarts like accents. It is beyond handsome. The sound resonates stunningly and I fell in love with it quickly. I named him Jonah and I will never give him up.

Recap September 10th

Thursday in class we read the narrative Dear Cameron by Helene Woyczesczyk. I genuinely enjoyed and related to this short story because I agree with the narrator that writing letters is much more personal than text messaging. It was also ironic that the writer wrote the essay in a letter formal as it was about letters.
Another narrative we read was Pet Milk, which had no relation to pet milk. In this story we discussed how the point of the story would have changed if the setting was in a different place. From this I realized how drastically the plot, characters, or message can change due to a different setting.

Procrastination

I have my first psychology examine tomorrow, which is also my first examine of my first year of college. My psychology professor told us that in order to earn an A, we must study 9-10 hours a week. 9 to 10 hours. This was a huge shock to me, who rarely studied in high school and didn't preform very well either. I've also only studied a total of maybe 2 hours the past two weeks. Based on that, I'll earn a D or F.

Another flaw of mine is that I am the champion of procrastination. I do all my homework and turn it in on time, but I make sure to save it until the very last second to do so. 

Back to my psychology test tomorrow. I started making flashcards today to help me study. But instead of studying for a test that I am inevitably going to flunk, I am writing this blog, which I would much rather do, because again, I am a procrastinator and hate studying. 

If I were a smart student, the lesson I would have learned from a test I am about to fail is; get a head start on studying and DO NOT procrastinate. But, lets face it, I'll try my best the night before my test tomorrow and see how it goes. Again, because I'm a procrastinator. 

Course Recap 9/8

During Wednesday's class we listened to three pieces of writing; Girl, The Day Lady Died, and watched a clip featuring David Sedaris. Girl was intriguing because us, the readers, could interpret who the narrator was speaking to. I pictured a young mother giving her daughter advice of which she learned through experience. 

The Day Lady Died was my favorite poem of the three. The writer precisely described his day of a national tragedy and then in the last sentence he introduced the meaning of the poem and who died. From this poem I learned that a writer can describe his intent in one sentence, with so much meaning. I want to learn how to write simple and to the point. The writer also portrayed his age, class, race, and gender through his short poem. 

In the clip of David Sedris he used dry humor in his short story to keep the reader/ listener interested. David pointed out the flaws in the American and French traditions of Easter using dry humor. 

The main theme of what we learned is conveying your : religion, race, ethnic background, gender, class, sexuality, age, nationality, age, hometown, high school, major, group/ clubs, and fangirlisms. As a writer I believe I need to work on describing these groups more through my writing. 

Introduction

Hello!
My name is Allie Moskal and I'm a freshman at Western Michigan. My major is Music Therapy and my main instrument is voice. I love drinking tea, eating, playing guitar, and singing.